Google Deploys Person-Finder Tool to Help Survivors of Nepal Earthquake

Google is helping to connect survivors with worried relatives after a catastrophic earthquake rocked Nepal Saturday morning.

The Person Finder tool, a missing persons database supplied with crowdsourced data, is intended to help people find those who were affected by the earthquake.

More than 1,300 have been counted dead after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake destroyed much of Kathmandu. Damage has extended to India, Bangladesh and Tibet, and at least 1,700 people have been injured.

Google Person Finder gathers information from responders and individuals, who can upload information for a missing person or someone who has been found, helping people locate each other. The search giant has deployed the tool before in times of disaster.

As of Saturday afternoon, about 1,700 records had been uploaded.

See the Aftermath of the 7.8-Magnitude Earthquake in Nepal

A man is freed from a collapsed building in Kathmandu on Saturday, April 25 following a 7.9 magnitude earthquake.

Narendra Shrestha—EPA

People work to free a man trapped in debris in Kathmandu.

Narendra Shrestha—EPA

People carry a victim who was removed from the collapsed Dharara tower following the earthquake in Kathmandu.

Omar Havana—Getty Images

Security personnel and local people operating rescue operation at Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu on April 25, 2015.

Kishor Sharma

People inspect the damage of the collapsed landmark Dharahara, also called Bhimsen Tower, after the earthquake.

Narendra Shrestha—EPA

A vehicle sits on a badly damaged stretch of road in Kathmandu.

Xinhua/Sipa USA

Emergency rescue workers search for survivors in the debris of Dharara tower in Kathmandu after it collapsed.

Omar Havana—Getty Images

The hand of a victim who perished in the debris of the Dharara tower in Kathmandu.

Omar Havana—Getty Images

Volunteers taking out a dead body from the rubbles in Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu.

Kishor Sharma

People clear debris in Basantapur Durbar Square while searching for survivors in Kathmandu.

Omar Havana—Getty Images

A man passes a collapsed temple at Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu.

Omar Havana—Getty Images

Kathmandu residents run to shelters after a replica tremor hit the city.

Omar Havana—Getty Images

A Nepalese man and woman hold each other in Kathmandu's Durbar Square, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was severely damaged by an earthquake.

Prakash Mathema—AFP/Getty Images

People stay outdoors in fear of aftershocks, in central Kathmandu.

Kishor Sharma

People sleep outside on a street following a massive earthquake in Kathmandu.

Narendra Shrestha—EPA

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